DOUBLE AGGRESSION, NOT A CIVIL WAR: It doesn't matter whether it's intentional or negligent!

Written by: Muharem Cero

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When untruth and lies take root and become an unquestionable collective determinant, then facts and truths, whatever they may be, become epochal with the euphoric label of a "historical event."

The aforementioned sequence is mirrored in the euphoric reaction to the Hague verdict in the Stanišić - Simatović case. The label of a historical event should be interpreted only as a potential and an open possibility, not as the event itself, as was presented yesterday.

Confirmation of this conclusion also lies in the belated, almost forced reactions of political actors from the pro-Bosnian political spectrum. It is indisputable that the exceptional, almost "historical" potential of this Hague verdict can, and should, determine the future trajectory of the struggle for Bosnia and Herzegovina's statehood and the fate of processes that are currently moving with strange dynamics or touching upon the state survival of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Somehow strangely coinciding are the reading of the Hague verdict in the "Stanišić - Simatović" case and the announcement of today's meeting in Mostar of the leaders of the state coalition (not a programmatic coalition or just an electoral partnership, only they know) Čović, Dodik, and Nikšić. To what extent the wording of the verdict itself will dictate the content of the expected meeting remains to be examined after the conclusion of the announced media address by the participants.

It is to be assumed that the spirit of The Hague will influence and shape the topics of the meeting, whatever they may be, and they could range from energy, through the Constitutional Court and state property, to the Election Law.

But still, let us set aside speculation and deal with the facts that will occur.

What will certainly not be on the agenda, and what is the aforementioned spirit of The Hague, is the question of the influence of the Hague facts on, certainly, a new Bosnian era. It is clear that the flawed integration of post-Dayton Bosnia is founded on the incorrect fact, disputed by The Hague, regarding the character of the war against Bosnia.

Presented as an unfortunate conflict and ultimately falsified and forged as a civil war, it enabled, produced, and directed Bosnia's state sovereignty according to the model of an unfinished war, encouraging the aggressors against Bosnia and Herzegovina to almost successfully conclude their political war aims in a so-called peacetime environment.

The flawed integration did not encourage the return of people expelled in ethnic cleansing, and the parallel and special relations between the entity Republika Srpska and the aggressor state Republic of Serbia, in the environment of the proclaimed Serbian world, with shorter and longer steps, silently, established the validation of the factual situation and, through the model of realpolitik, rounded off ethnic territories by establishing the goal of the 21st century (Vučić) - a national state of Serbs on the territory projected by the determinant of Greater Serbia.

An identical process, based on the same factual situation condemned by the earlier Hague verdict for the Croatian six, was occurring in reserve in western Bosnia as well. It wasn't just the confused domestic political actors yesterday. Confusion was also felt among parts of the international community, those present in Bosnia and Herzegovina and those outside Bosnia and Herzegovina (they will be easily found).

It is precisely these more or less confused and taken aback actors from whom it is expected, and who also have an obligation, to adjust the factual situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Hague facts, to restore trust in international law by ensuring that the constitutional structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina serves the Dayton intention of reintegrating society and the state, rather than institutional and threatening territorial consociationalism, which is also their obligation.

Things will not happen spontaneously or based on a sense of moral and legal guilt of the construct called the international community; rather, for that to happen, the focus of desire for change through the rule of law must be maintained as a constant tension, primarily among domestic political actors, without the ruling/opposition label, and with strong support from domestic and foreign media, as well as with the support of friends and lobbyists for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Stanišić - Simatović verdict is historical at this moment because it will never be repeated, and in itself, it is merely a gift from God and a potential that must be known how to use.